


are you watching closely?

by noirallegiance



Series: Prestigestuck [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, F/M, M/M, Multi, Prestigestuck AU, Stage Magic, Victorian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-15
Updated: 2012-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-29 14:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/320785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noirallegiance/pseuds/noirallegiance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the late nineteenth century, Sollux Captor and Eridan Ampora, two up-and-coming young magicians, begin a rivalry which soon deepens into something blacker. But neither of them really know what they're getting into... The stakes rise. The tension increases. The show goes on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	are you watching closely?

ii wriite iin the year 1901.

a2 the end of my tiime draw2 near, iit 2eem2 prudent two make a record of my liife and achiievement2. but two tell the 2tory of my liife ii2 two tell the 2tory of the 2ecret2 whiich have governed my exii2tence. they are thiing2 two whiich only a few of my mo2t tru2ted advii2or2 are priivy, and even then ii only told them when iit wa2 completely unavoiidable. not even my own mate2priit know2 all that there ii2 two know about me, and a2 2uch thii2 wiill be the fiir2t and la2t tiime ii can 2et 2uch thiing2 down on paper.

but there ii2 more two iit. two talk of my liife ii2 al2o two talk of the riivalry and kii2me2ii22iitude whiich ha2 been iit2 only con2tant ever 2iince ii wa2 iin my early twentiie2. ii am referring, of cour2e, two my relatiion2hiip wiith one eriidan ampora, better known by hii2 2tage name, the priince of magiic. iin the har2h liight of hiind2iight brought on by maturiity, ii cannot help but wonder iif iit wa2 wii2e two embark on 2uch a relatiion2hiip, whiich wa2 tempe2tuou2 even for the caliigiinou2 quadrant. 2tiill, iit ii2 two late now for anythiing but regret.

my name, my real name, ii2 2ollux captor, and ii am a ma2ter of iillu2iion2.

 

~

 

The first time Sollux Captor met Eridan Ampora… was nothing exceptional.

Occasionally, from time to time, a small advertisement would be placed in one of the magic journals which every up-and-coming young stage magician subscribed to. An advertisement for a human or troll interested in the professional magic circuit who knew how to keep their mouth shut for an… apprenticeship, of sorts. The life of a plant – someone in the audience who secretly worked with the performer – more than made up for the shitty pay with a wealth of experience backstage, front-row seats at every performance, and the potential chance at a promotion. And so such adverts always attracted their fair share of attention, no matter how minor the employer’s reputation.

Pyralspite the Magnificent was a nobody on the circuit, but she had received some good reviews in a couple of journals, and rumour had it that she would become the next big thing. So of course Sollux Captor knew that this was his chance. There probably wouldn’t be too much competition, considering the current level of Pyralspite’s fame, but she was still well-known enough that it would definitely be a good stepping-stone to bigger and better things.

On the day of the interview, Pyralspite sprang upon Sollux as soon as he entered. The experience as a whole was a rather unnerving one, considering her lolling tongue and expressionless red shades which somehow still conveyed the feeling that you were being laughed at. And that you didn’t know the joke. “Ah, right, you must be Mr. Captor! That means everyone who wrote to me is here. Take a seat.” She shooed him towards a couch, and he had no choice but to sit down besides two other people, presumably the other applicants. There was a slim, pale human with his eyes hidden behind dark glasses, and a troll clad in reasonably fancy clothes and a trailing blue scarf, whose fins marked him as a seadweller. The troll shot him a curious glance; the human merely stared dead ahead.

The illusionist clapped her hands together gleefully. “Right. I’ll see Mr. Strider first.” The man rose silently and followed the shorter troll to a door on the other side of the room. The pair disappeared behind it, leaving Sollux alone with the stranger.

The two trolls sat alone in silence, but Sollux couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being... sized up, almost? At last, tired of the other troll’s scrutiny, he decided to comment. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

All he was given in response was a baleful look. “Why would I have anythin’ to say to the likes a you?” His voice wavered strangely on the first few words, and Sollux couldn’t help but laugh.

“Nice accent.”

“It’s _aristocratic_ ,” his rival retorted, “an’ that _thpeech impediment_ you’ve got goin’ on is hardly crash-hot either.”

Sollux felt the blood beginning to rush to his face. His lisp was a sore spot with him, and to hear this complete stranger attacking it... well, he’d had better introductions, to say the very least.

In response, the seadweller only sniffed condescendingly. “An’ yellow blood? I should have known, considerin’ the kind a manners you’ve got.” Picking up one end of his scarf, he flicked it over his shoulder so that it hit Sollux squarely in the face.

“That’s _it_ ,” he said angrily, and stood up. He glared down at the other troll, who only looked at him coolly. “If you want a fight, I’m damn well going to give you one–“

“Gentlemen!” Pyralspite reappeared without any warning, and Sollux gained no small satisfaction from seeing his competitor flinch. “Thank you both for turning up, but I’m afraid there’s no need for you to stick around. Mr. Strider is a more than satisfactory candidate, and I’ve decided to take him on.”

Almost simultaneously, both trolls protested.

“You can’t seriously be passing me over without at least giving me a chance–“

“You can’t seriously be passin’ me over for a red-blooded human–“

A grin twitched at Pyralspite’s mouth, revealing unnerving rows of pointed teeth. “Yes, I can, and yes, I can. Now I’d suggest you both get out before I have to make you.”

Dispirited, Sollux decided to do as she said and head back outside. It wasn’t until he had arrived on the busy street that he realised he was being followed.

“What do you want?” he groaned, turning to face the troll behind him. “Can’t quite get enough of my presence?”

In response, he found himself being grabbed by the front of his shirt. “The name’s Eridan Ampora,” the seadweller hissed, face merely centimetres away from Sollux’s own. “Remember it.” He released his hold before turning on his heel and leaving, cape whipping at Sollux in a final mocking goodbye.

 

~

 

The second time Sollux Captor met Eridan Ampora was the dark cloud on the horizon, the hint at worse things to come.

The Great Sassacre, the famed American illusionist, was coming to London for one show only. The show in question was to be the last date on his tour which had taken in most of Europe and the States, and it was to be his final performance ever. He had announced his intentions to retire after the show, and when he did so, the circuit would lose a king.

Sollux Captor had saved up for months in order to buy a ticket to such a prestigious event. Sure, getting his rent money together for next month was almost certainly going to be a little problematic for him, but in his mind seeing such a famous practitioner of magic in his last ever performance was indubitably worth it.

On the night of the show, he had dressed up as best he could in the slightly shabby suit he wore for his performances (as few and far between as they were), and made his way to the theatre early. Checking the information on his ticket, he began to ascend the many stairs which led to the top tier of seats. When he found the right row, he started to edge between the seats, heading for the one right in the very middle–

Which, to his surprise, someone else was already sitting in. Their head was down and their face obscured, but the twin wavy horns snaking upwards revealed them to be a troll. A troll who was damn well in Sollux’s expensive seat.

Sollux tried to hide his irritation. He rechecked the seat number on his ticket, but he was right. Somebody else had actually had the audacity to steal his seat. He felt his psionic power begin to uncoil, but he quickly tamped it down. It would be far better to try and solve this with diplomacy. “Excuse me,” he addressed the figure, “but I think I’m meant to be sitting there.”

“I’m not movin’,” the troll groused in response. “What’s the point a bein’ royalty if you can’t sit wherever you want?”

Even though it had been months since he had last heard those wavy consonants and that smug sense of self-entitlement, it was obvious enough to Sollux who this seat-usurper was. And when a pair of sullen violet eyes met Sollux’s own golden ones, his suspicions were confirmed.

“Aren’t you that seadweller I met at Pyralspite’s?” he asked. And, since from what he knew, he didn’t actually like the other troll very much, he added “Ampersand, wasn’t it?”

“Ampora,” he snapped in response, “and it’s _Lord_ Ampora to you, pissblood.”

 _Touchy about his title. And probably overcompensating for something_. Sollux mentally filed that one away and lounged against the seat closest to him. “Whatever. You’re still in my way, seadweller. Move.”

Ampora curled his lip. “Make me.”

Sollux bit down on his rage – talking wouldn’t do anything now – and instead called on his reservoir of psionic power. The air around him began to heat up and crackle, first red, then blue. “Last time we met,” he hissed in between breaths, “I promised you a fight. And now I’d be more than happy to deliver.”

Cowed at last, Ampora gave him one final glare before shifting one seat to the right. Satisfied, Sollux planted himself firmly on the now-empty fabric.

“Mannerless lowblood,” muttered Ampora sulkily.

Sollux decided to indulge himself. He was having far too much fun irritating the seadweller as it was, so he saw absolutely no reason to stop. “Excuse me?” He lounged lazily in his seat, stretching his back and spreading his arms across the adjacent seats.

The violetblooded troll shifted in his spot, but, to his credit, didn’t shrink away from Sollux’s outflung limbs. “Mannerless, _badly-dressed_ lowblood,” he muttered a little louder, “who won’t even tell me his coddamn name.”

“Sollux Captor, seadweller.”

“I’ll have to make a point a rememberin’ that, _Thollux_.” Ampora offered him a smirk. “See if I can’t get my people to pull some strings in regards to an up-an’-comin’ magician’s career.” The sinister undertone in his otherwise friendly tone belied his true intentions. “That’s one advantage a not bein’ a pissblood. People actually listen.”

The theatre had begun to fill up with people, and at this point, Sollux decided, it would be too much hassle to actually fight the seadweller. It would serve no purpose other than to cause a scene, which might even result in him being kicked out of the theatre. Instead, he chose to sprawl a little more obnoxiously. Ampora shot him a dirty glance, but didn’t otherwise respond.

Finally, after a wait filled with an almost solid tension, the lights went down, as did the murmurs, and the Great Sassacre strode onstage. The spotlight reflected off his square-framed glasses. Then he began to speak in a thick American accent. He was said to hail from the west coast of the States, and his drawl certainly fitted in with that theory.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all so much for coming out tonight. It really means a lot to me.” A smattering of applause rang out; in response, he grinned a bucktoothed grin and waved it away. “Please, please. I haven’t even really done anything yet.” A few people in the audience laughed, and they were greeted with the same charming smile.

 _Amazing_ , Sollux thought to himself. _He has absolute control over the crowd; they’re all mesmerised_. _I really am in the presence of a master showman_.

“Before I get started, there’s somebody I’d like you all to meet,” Sassacre continued. A pretty troll in a cerulean dress appeared from the wings and came to stand beside him; she grinned and waved to the crowd. There were even a couple of catcalls, to which her only response was an almost flirtatious wink.

“This is the lovely Vriska Serket,” the illusionist explained, “who has been my assistant for the past five years. I’m very pleased to announced that one of the reasons for my retirement was that we’re engaged to be married. And to officially become mateysprites!” The audience applauded loudly, and there were even a couple of laughs mixed in. Sollux heard Ampora snort derisively, but didn’t pursue it.

“Matesprits,” she corrected him, but it was an amiable thing; there was a smile in her eyes.

“Anyway, that’s all you’ll be seeing of Vriska for now.” As he spoke, she swept off. “She’ll be back in just a couple of minutes for my first real trick of the night. But meanwhile...” He produced a deck of cards, and with a flick of the wrist, they jumped from one hand to the other. “I’d like to start off with a few simple card tricks. These were the first real ones I learnt, so of course they hold a special place in my heart. Now, how about a volunteer?”

After the simple opening, Sassacre didn’t hold back. He launched into a trick in which he appeared to saw Vriska in half before reassembling her, then followed that up with conjurations, starting with small items like flowers before making a live tiger appear onstage to riotous applause. He made Vriska levitate, disappear, speak in tongues. Sollux watched raptly the entire time. _This_ was what he had always dreamed of being: a master magician who could manipulate the will of the crowd like clay.

Then the lights dimmed once more, and Sassacre stepped forward under the glare of a spotlight. “I’m afraid, lovely ladies and gentlemen, that you have just witnessed my last trick for the night.” The crowd made various noises of disappointment. “Rest assured that London has not disappointed. You’ve been the best audience I’ve ever had, so I’d like to thank you all again.”

“Now, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to talk about the noble art of stagecraft to which I have dedicated my life.” He turned and faced the crowd. The light changed, casting deep shadows onto his face. “At the heart of every good magic act lies a secret. The kind of secret which anyone would kill to get their hands on.” Sassacre raised his arms towards the audience, letting his sleeves fall back and expose his wrists. “Now, for the first time, I stand before you unexposed and as I am.” He flashed a smile, but it wasn’t the same open one he’d shown them countless times earlier. There was something steelier to it. “But that doesn’t mean you can let your guard down. Ladies and gentlemen... are you watching closely?”

Then, without a word, he vanished. As one, every member of the audience rose to their feet, and the babble rose almost to a roar. There was no doubt that the Great Sassacre had gone out on a high.

Sollux, on his feet, turned to leave, but found Ampora blocking his path. “This isn’t over,” he growled, before turning and storming off.

So this wasn’t over? Not if Sollux had anything to say about it.

 

~

 

The third time Sollux Captor met Eridan Ampora was the one which would change everything.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to openendings for betaing and htmlwrangling. Any comments or feedback are much appreciated. :)


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